"Atheism is not merely the denial of a dogma. It is the reversal of a subconscious assumption in the soul..." - Chesterton
"We do not really face two rival versions of Christianity. We face Christianity on the one hand and, on the other hand, some other religion that selectively uses Christian words, but is not Christianity." - J. Gresham Machen

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What I believe:
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.
I believe he was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
I believe he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
I believe he descended to the grave and on the third day he rose again.
I believe he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
I believe he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.
I believe we are saved by grace alone through faith alone. I believe the Bible is the word of God, without error or contradiction.
I believe God is sovereign over all the universe; omnipotent and omniscient in all things. I believe that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. I believe that pretty much covers it.

Saturday, 3 July 2010

A Libertarian View of Gay Marriage

From Stand FirmThis is a very good article - a little long by most blogs' standards, but once you start reading, it goes quickly, and I found myself wanting more.

The article is a very good one, but in my opinion, it addresses not so much the specific issue of gay marriage, as the general deterioration of the institution as a result of, or at least in parallel to, the general decline in the areas of morality and personal accountability and responsiblity, along with the increase in sexual freedom (or licence) and the growing sense of entitlement of many people.

Included in the article is a lengthy quote from GK Chesterton, which includes this gem, edited slightly for context:

There are reformers who (assume) that all their fathers were fools; but if that be so, we can only say that folly appears to be a hereditary disease.

This expresses, in true Chestertonian fashion, my own disdain of what I call, "cultural," or, "chronological arrogance." It is the tendency of may liberals, or reformers as Chesterton calls them, to assume that we, "moderns" have now got it all together where our predecessors in previous generations somehow missed the point. It assumes that we are somehow more intelligent, or culturally superior to anyone who has come before us. Today it manifests itself in the areas of sexual morality (I suppose the Playboy Philosophy started it all), the rampant epidemic of drug abuse and the call for the legalization of marijuana (the desire for self-satisfaction, stemming from self-centeredness probably contributing greatly) and the sense of many that they should be rewarded by society for their very existence; owed a living whether they want to work for it or not.

There are those in the Christian community who preach that various disasters, natural (hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.) or by the hand of man (9/11), are judgments from God for our turning our collective backs on Him. I do not go that far, but I believe there are consequences for our abandoning God, as much of our western society has done. There are consequences for putting ourselves ahead of Him. There are consequences for the type of radical selfishness we see all around us. But these are nothing new; they go right back to the beginning. They are a manifestation of the natural human tendency to be the most important thing in the universe, and the refusal to accept that we are not.

Throughout history, empires and civilizations have risen and fallen, each one probably thinking theirs would be the one to last forever. Ours is no exception, and ours, I expect, will at some point go the way of all the others.